I will be happy to accept PhD application for research in the following fields, both in typical and atypical Development

- Development of the Peripersonal space, the "self" and multisensory integration: within this topic we are studying the development of "self" and the roles of multisensory integration in shaping self-other boundaries and social cognition

- A baby’s first experience with the surrounding environment occurs through touch, developing prenatally as early as 16 weeks. This sense is essential to children’s growth of physical abilities, language and cognitive skills, and social-emotional competency. Touch not only impacts short-term development during infancy and early childhood, but also has long-term effects, suggesting the power of positive, gentle touch from birth. Through this contact, newborns are able to learn about their world, bond with their caregiver, and communicate their needs and wants. There is almost nothing on the neural basis and development of touch stimulation

- Possession, ownership, and social affordance in early development: in this topic we are interesting in studying the development of particular relationships between individuals and an entity maintaining a control over it; furthermore we want to investigate which properties and dependent variables are relevant for individuals' goals to become the owner of an object

Research lines for students some of which for PhD student. All the arguments will be investigated through either imaging (Nirs and ERPs) or behavioural testing methods

- Perception and cognition of the social and physical world over the early years: within this topic we study face perception, eye gaze perception, eye gaze cuing action, and the perception of human/non human action through imaging (NIRS and ERPs) and behavioural testing methods in typical and atypical development

- Development of the Peripersonal space, the "self" and multisensory integration: within this topic we are studying the development of "self" and the roles of multisensory integration in shaping self-other boundaries and social cognition

- Developing an understanding of the physical world: within this big area of research we are in particular focused on the investigation of the perception of the space immediately around us that mediated every physical interaction between the body and the surrounding environment

- Possession, ownership, and social affordance in early development: in this topic we are interesting in studying the development of particular relationships between individuals and an entity maintaining a control over it; furthermore we want to investigate which properties and dependent variables are relevant for individuals' goals to become the owner of an object

- Infant at risk for autism: a longstanding research interest is concerning on how autism develops over the first years of life studying groups of infants at risk for autism (ie, younger siblings of children already diagnosed; premature birth) to trace the earliest brain and cognitive signs of autism

- Development of other race effect and attentional mechanisms: within this topic we want to investigate the attentional constrains that interact with the development of categorical other/own race perception

- Development of categorization from objects to the social targets and how the knowledge of the world changes from perception to social cognition: in this area of research we want to find out what are the mechanisms for the early development of different evolutionary biases in the domain of social intergroup relationships.